


stars, hide your fires

by SoldierThirstClass (HardNoctLife)



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: A boy and his dog, Blood and Violence, Brief mention of abortion, Dark Nation - Freeform, Darkstar - Freeform, Explicit Language, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, One Shot, President Shinra Being An Asshole, Verbal Abuse, Young Rufus Shinra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:01:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24431764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HardNoctLife/pseuds/SoldierThirstClass
Summary: 16-year-old Rufus Shinra has many reasons to hate his father, but being an overbearing parent isn't one of them. Left to amuse himself in the Shinra building while the president works, Rufus stumbles across a failed experiment scheduled for destruction, only to discover that he may have more in common with the beast than he first thought."A boy and his dog" story about how Rufus met Darkstar.
Relationships: President Shinra & Rufus Shinra
Comments: 8
Kudos: 54





	stars, hide your fires

**Author's Note:**

> "The prince of Cumberland! That is a step  
>  On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap,  
>  For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;  
>  Let not light see my black and deep desires.  
>  The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be  
>  Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see."
> 
> A quote from _Macbeth_ by William Shakespeare where Macbeth talks about how he must overcome someone who is in his way to becoming king while hiding the darkness inside him.

Rufus balanced on the railing of the balcony that overlooked the Shinra mansion’s lawn, his knees pulled into his chest as he surveyed the sleeping village past its gates. It was unusually cool for this time of year, but he was too stubborn to wear a coat, hands tucked under his armpits to protect them from the chill. His feet had gone numb a long time ago. He stared down at them, counting the blue veins visible through his pale skin.

It was late enough that even the crickets were quiet, but he couldn’t sleep, the voices in the room adjacent to him a constant drone in his ears no matter how much he tossed and turned. He hated it when his father came to visit. It meant that he had to listen to his parents fight. No matter where Rufus went he could hear them, the house’s old walls doing little to nothing to muffle their shouts. The balcony was his only escape. Even then, it wasn’t nearly far enough. 

“You’re supposed to be keeping him out of trouble.”

“He’s  _ your  _ son.” He could hear his mother’s voice say, shrill and nasally. “Although he’d never know it with how little you’re around.”

“I have a company to run. You’re his mother,  _ you _ take care of him.”

“I  _ am _ . You left me no choice by sticking us out here in the middle of nowhere. But a boy needs his father. He’ll be seventeen this year and you’re practically a stranger to him. Do you know he assaulted a classmate the other day? The poor thing ended up in the hospital. His parents are apparently thinking about pressing charges.” 

Rufus fished a cigarette out of his pocket, using the matches he had stolen from his father’s desk to light it. He cupped his hands eagerly around the warmth that resulted from the flame, the shock to his system making him shiver. A soft orange glow illuminated his face as he placed the cigarette delicately between his lips to inhale, feeling the burn from the smoke and the crisp night air intermingle in his lungs.

A crass chuckle sounded through the wall behind him. “So pay them off. They’ll soon forget all about it, I promise. People will do anything for money. You would know.” 

“You’re a monster!” Rufus’ mother cried. “I can’t believe I married you.”

“So divorce me, you miserable bitch.” A crash followed, and Rufus heard his father’s booming laugh. It grated like nails on a chalkboard. “Oh, that’s right. You wouldn’t have my money then, would you? Don’t pretend that you care about our son. I know you only got pregnant to keep me from leaving you years ago.”

“Fuck you!” There were a few more thuds and crashes after that, along with a frustrated screech. No doubt the maids would have their hands full tonight.

Rufus blew smoke from his nostrils and mouth. He tilted his head back, watching it dissipate into the blanket of stars overhead. In Midgar you could never see the stars. The lights from the city choked them out. Here in the countryside though, they shone like diamonds in the night. He looked at them now, wondering what his life would be like if he wasn’t the heir to the Shinra empire.

Simpler, he imagined.

“You’re just as much of a monster as I am,” he heard his father say with a voice colder than steel. 

A heavy and brooding quiet filled the air and Rufus relaxed, thinking the worst had passed. Maybe now he would finally be able to get some sleep. 

But then he heard his mother say, “When you leave, you’re taking Rufus with you. I can’t take any more of this. And if you don’t you’ll be hearing from my lawyer about your weekend ‘business’ trips.” 

A door slammed so hard that Rufus felt it rattle in his ribcage. 

“Fucking cunt,” his father growled. Stomps faded away, punctuated by another door closing. 

Rufus took another long drag of his cigarette, listening to the sound of silence. 

* * *

“Stay out of the way. You’re free to wander around, but this isn’t a playground. Don’t make me regret bringing you here.”

“I’m not a child. I think I can manage,” Rufus retorted. He watched the world grow smaller through the walls of the elevator, ignoring his father’s condescending look reflected in its glass. 

“Hmph! I remember what it was like to be your age. You may think you’re invincible, but I wasn’t born into money like you were. Everything I accomplished was through hard work.  _ You _ , on the other hand, would bite the hand that feeds you, ungrateful brat. Don’t forget that  _ I’m  _ the one who made your comfortable life possible—and  _ don’t  _ embarrass me.” 

_ Embarrass  _ him _?  _ Rufus wanted to laugh. Instead, he walked past the president as soon as the elevator doors opened. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t familiar with the Shinra building so long as he got as far away from his father as possible. 

“If you need anything, ask the Turks. I’m not going to babysit you,” his father called after him. 

Rufus didn’t waste his breath on a response.

* * *

If any employees were suspicious of a teenager wandering around the Shinra building unchaperoned, they did a good job of hiding it. Rufus didn’t earn so much as a second glance, even when he helped himself to a soda in the employees-only lounge. It could have been because he was wearing a well-tailored white suit with a Shinra logo emblazoned on the jacket pocket, or the common knowledge that he wouldn’t be able to get above the 60th floor without a keycard. With those facts taken into account, it seemed only natural to assume that Rufus belonged there. 

It was a strange feeling not to be noticed. In school and at home, he always had someone catering to him or his mother hovering nearby. Here, he could do what he wanted, when he wanted. The freedom provided endless possibilities, ones that Rufus intended to take full advantage of. 

_ One day, all of this will be mine _ , Rufus thought as he stood outside the Shinra executive meeting room. He glanced in at the empty table, eyes landing on the seat at the head of it.  _ I will sit there, and everyone will have to do as I say _ . Just the thought made him smile.

It wasn’t until Rufus walked up to the 67th floor that he met any sort of resistance. A woman in a lab coat frowned as he strolled by her desk, hopping to her feet as he made his way towards a door that said: ‘authorized personnel only.’

“Excuse me, sir. Can I help you?” her tone was critical, demanding that he explain himself.

Rufus turned, fixing her with a lazy smirk. “No, I don’t think so.” 

It clearly wasn’t the answer she was expecting, and he delighted in how the woman balked, arms folding over her chest. Her green eyes glared at him from behind a thick pair of glasses. “This is a restricted area. I will need to see your credentials.”

“I’m Rufus Shinra,” he declared. It had the desired effect. The woman paled, taking a wary step back. “My father gave me permission to look around.” Indecision shone on in her face, eyebrows furrowing slightly as she weighed her options. Rufus watched with barely concealed amusement. 

“It’s not a good idea for a boy to be wandering around this floor,” she finally said, but she looked resigned, returning to her desk. “It might be dangerous. I doubt your father would be pleased if you got hurt.” 

Rufus’ smirk became a grin, and he shook his head. “Then you obviously don’t know my father very well.” 

She blinked as if she were unsure whether to take him seriously, and he left her without any further explanation, scanning his all-access keycard at the door she had attempted to bar his entrance from. 

“Be careful,” he heard her murmur as he stepped into the room beyond it.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the low lighting when the door locked behind him. As Rufus got his bearings, he attempted to parse together the aromas that violently assaulted his senses. The strong sting of chemicals. A bitter odor that left an odd taste in his mouth. An undertone of something foul and putrid. He coughed, briefly covering his nose with his forearm to quell his nausea, adding the musk of his cologne to the mix. 

Swallowing back a gag, he took a few cautious strides forward. The hum of machinery was all around, eerie blue and green light leaking from containers that lined the room, yet all he could hear was the beating of his heart in his ears. There was strange energy about the place. Dark, and gloomy, and  _ suffocating _ . If Rufus’ curiosity wasn’t so strong, he would have left immediately. 

It was that curiosity that carried him through room upon room of strange creatures in glass tubes and ‘testing areas’ with blood splattered along their walls. Each new shadow seemed to hide something more horrifying than the last, and Rufus felt his fear and dread grow with every discovery he made.

He rushed past the labs where people sat at work stations in front of computer screens and microscopes. They wore gloves, and masks that made them seem less than human, their eyes and mouths concealed behind their expressionless materials. No one saw him. They were too absorbed in whatever they were researching. Rufus wasn’t sure he wanted to know exactly what that was. 

The teenager imagined he had to be nearing the end of the facility when he entered what seemed to be a storage room. Boxes were stacked from floor to ceiling, covered in gauzy tarps. In the corner was a red-lit exit sign, his sole beacon of hope. He hurried towards it with an overwhelming sense of relief, only to stop in his tracks when he heard something low and ominous.

“Grrrrrr…”

Rufus felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, icy fear making his skin crawl. Then he heard it again, louder this time. Holding his breath, he turned to face the source of the growl with trepidation.

Two glowing red eyes stared back at him through the dark, the same shade as the exit sign, though they inspired a pervading sense of impending doom. The breath Rufus was holding came out in a gasp, only for him to realize that whoever—or more accurately, _whatever—_ the eyes belonged to was safely behind metal bars. 

Although his pulse was still racing, he relaxed somewhat at the reassurance he wouldn’t be immediately torn to shreds by the monster lurking in the shadows. He inched forward to inspect the creature and was surprised to see it shy away from him as he approached its cage. Squatting down, he peered inside, maintaining a respectful distance.

There was a tag hanging from the container. Rufus was able to make out a few words in bold red print if he squinted. 

“Failed Specimen. Scheduled for disposal,” he read aloud. The sound of his voice elicited another growl from the unknown beast, and Rufus rocked back onto his heels. “You’re useless to them, huh? Meant to be thrown away.”

It was a familiar sentiment. 

“Trust me, it’s probably for the best.” Rufus pushed his hands off of his thighs to get to his feet, content to leave the experiment and continue on his way, but then he heard a different noise.

A low, pitiful whine. 

It made him pause to cast a glance over his shoulder. Against his better judgment, Rufus approached the cage again, and after some debate, brought his face up to the bars. He fought to keep his breaths slow and even as the red eyes loomed closer.  _ Animals can smell fear _ , he remembered reading once. 

As the beast came towards him, he could finally make out the shape of it. It lifted its head until it was level with his, and Rufus’ eyes widened in disbelief.

“A...dog?” 

Upon further inspection, he realized the answer was more complicated than that. The animal did have the usual canine features, but its fangs and claws were more prominent, and it had a humpback deformity with a long spine that tapered into a tentacle-like second tail. It was small, perhaps only a puppy, yet it was obviously malnourished, its ribcage and hips poking through its taut skin. Rufus could see the definition of sinewy muscles and veins beneath it, another sign of man’s attempt to tamper with nature. That, and the faded scars and wounds along its body in varying states of healing. 

Its ears were flattened, shoulders hunched as if to pounce. When it started growling again, he shuffled back a few inches (just in case) which was when Rufus realized it was studying him just as closely as he was studying it. 

He looked down at himself, frowning, and his eyes fell immediately onto the Shinra logo on his jacket. “This?” Rufus covered the patch with one hand. The noise stopped, and he chuckled as the experiment’s ears flicked up, head cocking as dogs’ often did. “They must have done something terrible to you to warrant that response.”

The mutual inspection continued a minute longer before Rufus righted himself. He slid his hands into his pockets, reluctant to leave if it meant having to make small-talk with adults who couldn’t care less about him. 

“You must be hungry.” The dog’s tail wagged as if it understood, and Rufus allowed himself to smile. After a moment of deliberation, he decided. “I’ll be back.”

He could feel the dog's eyes burning holes in-between his shoulder blades as he left. 

* * *

“I assume you like meat,” Rufus said as he entered the room. He’d managed to take an extra helping from the cafeteria without anyone questioning him. Of course, he was a teenage boy, so nothing about a plate piled high with steak seemed out of the ordinary. 

There was a rustling from the cage the moment he set the food down in front of it, followed by the soft smacking of lips as the creature stuck its neck out to inspect the offering. 

While his unusual dinner companion sniffed at the meal, Rufus shrugged out of his coat and tossed it aside, ensuring that the Shinra logo was safely out of sight. Then, he held his hands out in front of him, palms up. His fingers hovered between the bars of the cage, and he watched the creature’s nose twitch curiously over them as its ears stood at attention. 

Warm breath blew across one of Rufus’ hands as the beast bumped it with its nose, and the boy tensed, expecting an attack that never came. Instead, a tongue, wet and coarse, flitted over his knuckles.

A truce. 

“Now I see why they’re getting rid of you,” Rufus teased. “You’re not so fierce after all.” 

Taking care to not make any quick movements, he reached down for the steak, gaze never leaving the beast in the event it suddenly determined Rufus was a threat. He held out the food and waited. 

One second stretched into two, then three. The animal appeared conflicted, maybe suspecting a trap, and Rufus remained still, giving it time to make up its mind. Eventually, hunger seemed to win over apprehension. With a lick of its lips, it took the meat in its jaws with surprising gentleness and sat back, curling in the corner of the cage to properly devour its reward. 

Rufus felt a flutter of something in his chest that resembled pride, laughing when it finished eating in a few gulps and immediately returned to the front of the cage for another helping. This time, it didn’t hesitate when he offered it a second filet. 

The dog’s tail thudded against the concrete floor of its prison while it ate, making Rufus wonder if this was the first time it had ever been shown kindness in its short, miserable life. They repeated the exchange until there was nothing left, and the dog huffed at the empty plate afterward, apparently offended that its provider hadn’t thought to bring more.

“Still hungry?” mused Rufus. “Guess you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.” 

* * *

Rufus used the bars of the cage as a backrest, legs crisscrossed to better balance the plate in his lap. 

That morning’s breakfast consisted of eggs, sausage, and fruit, and he had gotten the same for his newfound friend behind him (minus the fruit). He listened to the creature’s loud chews and swallows, recalling the brief conversation he’d had in the Shinra cafeteria. 

“You must be hungry!” the woman working had beamed at him when he asked for more. 

He’d offered a charming smile and a nonchalant shrug. “My mother says I’m a growing boy.” Which was technically true. She said it ad nauseam when he was home. He’d laughed quietly to himself when the worker told him to take as much as he wanted. 

“My mother always worries that I’m not eating enough,” Rufus said. The experiment had finished eating and now had its body pressed along the front of the holding cell so that the boy could feel its chest expand and contract along his lower back. “But when I’m here, my father expects me to fend for myself. I don’t think he has a parental bone in his body.” 

A sigh came from the dog, and Rufus snorted, tilting his head back as he thought. 

“Have they been feeding you?” he wondered. Judging by the beast’s thin and ragged appearance, he assumed they weren’t. There was no reason to though, not if the creature was scheduled to be terminated. 

“Better for you not to have been born at all.” 

It was something he had heard through the walls of his home countless times before.

_ “Better for Rufus not to have been born at all than be subjected to this. To  _ you _.” _

His father’s agreement had been vehement and strongly worded. He’d tried to block them out, but the damage had already been done, and now he had to live with the knowledge that he had been unwanted from the start. 

Turning so that he now faced the reclining animal, Rufus rested his forehead on the bars and spoke directly to it. “Death or revenge. Those are your only options.” The dog blinked up at him, unmoving. 

_ Which will it be? _

Rufus got up abruptly, scooping his coat off the ground. The specimen still didn’t react, eyes sliding shut as if in sleep, not a care in the world. 

* * *

Rufus’ schedule came to revolve around visiting the research ward for every meal, but as the week went on, he found himself spending more and more time with the rejected experiment than he had anticipated. Soon he was spending all, if not most of his days there, perfectly content to sit in the dark with only the mutant dog to keep him company. At least it listened better than any of the myriad adults in his life, and unlike his father, didn’t make condescending remarks in response to everything he had to say. 

The woman at the front desk grew to begrudgingly accept Rufus’ comings and goings, though he did hear her mutter disapprovingly about his ‘morbid’ curiosity on several occasions. 

Unsurprisingly, the president never asked his son what he got up to while he was busy working, and Rufus never told him. He dreaded going home with his father at the end of every day, their silent car rides more abhorrent to him than the monsters hidden inside Shinra’s labs. 

As soon as they got to the man’s luxury condo in uptown Midgar, Rufus shut himself inside the guest room that he had claimed as his own and didn’t come out until it was time to leave the next day. 

And so, he developed his own routine. Until one morning, when he strolled into the storage room where his companion was kept, plates of food in hand, and was met with a sight he didn’t expect.

An empty cage. 

Rufus felt his heart drop into his stomach, and he set the food aside, appetite vanishing as his mind raced to come up with a suitable explanation.  _ They could have moved it _ . It was preferable to the more likely alternative, the one he wouldn’t accept:  _ they’ve destroyed it.  _

His feet were moving before he had a fully formed plan, and soon he was running, darting through the darkened rooms that he had come to know better than his own home. 

When he flew through the door and skidded to a stop in front of the reception desk, the woman there yelped, nearly falling out of her chair in alarm. 

“Where is it?” he demanded as she composed herself, face flushed.

“Where is what? What’s wrong?” 

Rufus waved an arm vaguely in the direction he had come from. “The dog in the storage room.”

“Dog?” She looked more confused now, and she shook her head. “There aren’t any dogs—”

“The specimen scheduled to be destroyed,” he blurted, cutting her off. “It was in a cage in the backroom and it’s not there anymore. Where did they take it?” 

Her eyebrows furrowed, lips pursing. “Well, if they were going to dispose of a specimen, they’d take it to the 68th floor, but—” 

Not waiting for her to finish, Rufus bolted for the elevator, foot tapping impatiently as he pressed the button for the next floor. He only hoped that he wasn’t too late. 

The moment the doors opened he was sprinting through them, head on a swivel. He was immediately drawn to an arrow painted on the wall with the words ‘testing area’ beneath it, and he followed it down the corridor to a panel that was flashing red. ‘Warning: Testing in Progress’ scrolled across the screen. Rufus held his keycard up to the scanner, waiting for it to turn green before pushing through the double doors beside it. 

Beyond the doors was a large room with a rounded glass chamber at its center, machinery and tubes branching out of the container towards an impressive control panel. An eerie glow emanating from the lights within tinted the room around it blue. Directly to Rufus’ right was a metal walkway leading to an observation deck. 

“Activate the elevator,” a man’s voice said. Rufus craned his neck to locate its source. He spied a handful of people in lab coats standing above him looking down, but they hadn’t yet noticed him. There was still no sign of the creature he was looking for. 

“Yes, sir,” someone in closer proximity to him replied. It was another man sitting behind the control panel that Rufus hadn’t noticed at first glance. 

There was a beep of a button being pressed, followed by a mechanical whirring. Rufus realized then that the elevator the man had referred to was located inside the glass chamber, which was what everyone was currently watching.

Following the scientists’ line of sight, he finally found what he was searching for as the floor inside the chamber opened up and the test subject appeared. 

It was the same beast he had been passing his days with, though it was even more pathetic under the fluorescent lights, little more than a skeleton with skin. Its teeth were bared in a ferocious snarl, tentacle poised like a scorpion’s stinger—ready to attack.

“Permission to dispense the gas, sir?” the attendant requested. 

“Yes, dispense the—” 

Rufus’ head snapped towards the man in alarm. “No!” he shouted. There were murmurs from the observation deck as he stormed towards the control panel, the commotion drawing the attention of everyone there. 

“Who are you?” the person sitting at the desk demanded as Rufus approached. Like the others, he was in a lab coat with the Shinra logo on the front. “Only authorized personnel are allowed in here.”

“I’m Rufus Shinra, and I demand that you stop what you’re doing immediately.” The scientist lobbed a glare at Rufus that said he didn’t care who the teenager was, only that he was interrupting something important. 

Men and women started to descend the ramp towards them, every footfall resounding with a clang, and Rufus knew he was rapidly losing ground. He glanced over to where the beast was now throwing its body against the walls of the chamber in desperation, glass shuddering with every impact, which was when he spied a red button in his periphery that read ‘emergency release.’ 

“Only Professor Gast can reverse the order. We’re going to have to ask you to leave,” a gruff voice said. 

Without giving it a second thought, Rufus lunged forward and hit the button. 

There was a chorus of horrified gasps accompanied by a siren’s drone. One look at the scientists’ faces told Rufus that the button must have opened the glass chamber. Then, an inhuman roar confirmed his suspicions. People started to run for the exit, tripping over one another and knocking chairs aside as they went, but the panel’s operator grabbed Rufus roughly by the shoulders and shook him in dismay.

“You stupid boy! What have you done?!” he snapped.

“Let me go.” Rufus went to brush him aside, but the man’s grip only tightened, his face turning sheet-white as a hair-raising growl overtook the alarm’s cries. 

When Rufus tried to pull back, the dog was there behind him, fangs dripping with foamy saliva. It was bigger than it had first appeared. Curled up in its cage in the dark it blended in with its surroundings, but unchained and up close it was truly a fearsome beast.  _ The devil’s guard dog.  _

Rufus saw the bite coming. The signs were there, in the flicking of the dog’s tail and the baring of its teeth, the snarl as its hackles raised, and the strong contraction of its muscles before it struck. 

It happened faster than he could blink. The scientist pushed Rufus in-between him and the experiment as it lunged, maw opened wide. There was no time for Rufus to react, and he shut his eyes, cursing as he felt long teeth sink through flesh and bone, something warm immediately spilling onto the floor at his feet. The animal clamped down and shook hard on his forearm, throwing him off balance. There was a horrible scream that Rufus didn’t recognize as coming from his own mouth, but with it the creature’s jaw went slack, releasing his mangled limb. 

Rufus heard the attendant frantically retreat from the room, and he lowered to his knees, eyes still shuttered against the pain. He happened to look down when he blinked them open. The blood now seeped through his suit, and a large quantity was pooling on the ground, more than he initially thought. 

“Call a doctor!” someone was shouting. “And get some soldiers down here!”

The world was spinning, Rufus’ vision blurring as it filled with shadows as he went under. 

Two red stars shone in the darkness. Then, they were gone.

* * *

It smelled clean.  _ Too _ clean. No blood, no machinery, not even the faded scent of cigarette smoke. 

_ Where am I…? _

Rufus opened his eyes, body heavy with unusual grogginess. His gaze panned up to an IV bag, and he followed the fluid in it to where a needle was inserted in the crook of his elbow. 

He stared at it, then attempted to reach for it, only to find his hand wrapped in a thick cast secured by his side.

_ The infirmary. _

It came flooding back to him then,  his run-in with the Shinra researchers, and he bolted up, an inexplicable panic seizing him. 

_ Failed specimen. Scheduled for disposal. _

It didn’t make any sense. Why should he care about some freak science experiment? Logically, he knew that he shouldn’t. The damn thing had bitten him, after all. Even if it had been an accident, any sensible person would forget about it and move on.

_ You, on the other hand, would bite the hand that feeds you _ . He recalled with a wry smile the words his father had spoken. Rufus knew that the president would have no trouble leaving his own son to die if given the choice.

But he was determined to be nothing like his father.

Listening for any signs that someone might be nearby, and hearing none, Rufus wriggled and shimmied until he was upright. Assuming that whatever was dripping from his IV was responsible for making him sluggish, he yanked his arm across his body, wincing as the needle pulled free. In short order, he removed the restraints holding his cast in place and threw back the covers, dismayed to find his clothes had been swapped out for a hospital gown. 

After a moment of deliberation, he sighed, pivoting to place his bare feet on the floor. If his assumptions were correct, he didn’t have any time to waste. 

Rufus got up only to stagger from a bout of dizziness that had his free hand shooting out to brace against whatever was within reach. There was a clatter as that thing ended up being a cart with assorted medical items, metal instruments and glass bottles of unknown medications knocked askew. 

He waited, giving his body time to adjust before shuffling out the door, sagging against the wall for support as he went. Outside was a long hallway just as white and sterile in appearance as the room from which he’d come. Setting his jaw in grim determination, Rufus focused on putting one foot in front of the other as nausea and pain hit him in alternating waves. The silence was unsettling, and Rufus had the fleeting thought that he should have run into someone by now. 

“Hey!” a voice shouted as he cleared the hall and entered a lobby of some kind. The security guard sitting at a circular desk in the center of it scrambled to get up, setting down the mug of coffee in his hand. “You’re not supposed to be up. Go back to your room or I’ll call the doctor,” he barked. 

Ignoring him, Rufus made a beeline for the closest elevator, only to belatedly realize he no longer had his keycard. The man was coming around the desk, shoulders squared as if he intended to drag the teenager back to his room by force. 

With an indignant huff, Rufus whirled on him, summoning what little remaining strength he had to channel it into a chilling glare. The look stopped the man in his tracks. 

“I demand to be taken to the president immediately.”

The man rubbed the back of his neck, shifting from one foot to the other. He averted his gaze to avoid making direct eye contact. “The doctor said you needed—”

“ _ Don’t _ make me say it again,” interjected Rufus, folding his arms across his chest. Somehow, barefoot in nothing but a thin white gown, he still managed to look intimidating. 

The tension in the air thickened, but Rufus maintained his wide-legged stance even as the man walked back to his seat. He leaned over to punch something into the computer terminal, and Rufus’ irritation spiked at the thought of soldiers being called to restrain him like a common criminal—or worse, the Turks.

“I’ll have you know that—” but Rufus’ scathing words died on his tongue as the elevator door slid open with a faint ding. 

“I’ve programmed it to take you directly to the president’s office.” The guard eyed him with a mixture of fear and revulsion, clearly in no mood for a fight. He had a young face, and Rufus guessed that the poor fool was probably new. There was a high chance the guard wouldn’t be employed once his commanding officer learned of his insubordination, but that wasn’t Rufus’ problem.

“Please give my regards to your father.” 

With a curt nod, Rufus backed into the elevator, holding onto his air of superiority only until the door closed. Once alone, he sank to the floor with a groan, leaning his head back against the cold metal walls as he ascended. 

* * *

“Sir, you can’t go in there—”

The admonishment was lost as the doors to President Shinra’s office were thrown open. They banged against the wall as Rufus waltzed in, trying the best he could to maintain a normal stride despite his pain and lightheadedness. 

A blonde woman in a form-fitting red dress that showed too much cleavage slid lithely off the corner of the president’s desk where she was perched, and Rufus’ father got to his feet with a scowl. 

“Can’t you see I’m in a meeting? You’ve already caused enough trouble for one day!” 

Panting, Rufus came to a halt in front of the desk, slamming his hands down on it partially for dramatic effect, but mostly because he was afraid he might fall over at any moment if he didn’t use it to steady himself. 

“This is your son?” the woman beside him drawled, interest playing across her full red lips. 

Ignoring her, Rufus glared at his father, who was currently concerned with lighting the cigar hanging from his mouth.

“The dog that bit me. I want to see it.” He forced his breaths to slow, chest rise-and-fall evening out at last. 

President Shinra waited until his cigar was successfully lit and took a puff before responding. “What? That mutant that attacked you?” he snorted. “Do you have a death wish?”

“Would it matter if I did?” Rufus snapped. “I want the dog, and I’m willing to work for it. I’ll train him, feed him, whatever is needed. Isn’t taking care of animals supposed to teach kids responsibility or some other important life lesson?” 

“My, he’s a fiery one, isn’t he?” the president’s guest commented.

Rufus’ father glanced at the woman, then back at his son, eyes narrowing. “The thing nearly tore your arm off and you want it as a pet? Are you insane?” 

The boy’s energy and patience were waning. He gripped the edge of the desk, knuckles turning white from the strain. “Give it to me and I’ll never ask you for anything again.”

“Ha! I’ve heard that one before,” said the president. His lips curling down at the corners. “Besides, what would your mother say?” He asked the question with a coy expression, laughing as if he had delivered the punchline to a hilarious joke. 

Something inside the boy snapped at the sound, filling him with an all-consuming rage. Before he knew it, words were spilling out of his mouth, and once they started they wouldn’t stop. 

“Since when have you cared about that? Or  _ me _ , for that matter? You’re a pathetic excuse for a man, a terrible father, and a shitty president of this company. The world would be better off without you. I can’t wait until you’re dead and gone so I never have to look at your  _ fucking  _ face again.”

President Shinra’s cheeks flushed with fury as Rufus continued his verbal onslaught, his cigar burning a brilliant red with a sharp sucking in of breath. “Scarlet, out,” he barked, and though the woman tossed her head flippantly, she did as he asked, throwing one more appraising look at Rufus on her way out.

The moment the doors shut in her wake, the president made a move as if to stand, placing his cigar in the ashtray at the corner of his desk. 

“You ungrateful little shit—”

Rufus’ arm was throbbing, and exhaustion threatened to bring him to his knees, but he was far from done. Years of pent up emotion spurred him to keep going along with the fear that If he didn’t say what he wanted to now, he wasn’t sure if he ever would. 

This was about more than a dog. Not that he would ever admit it. 

“You so much as breathe on me wrong and I will make sure the entire world knows about your affair. I will destroy you and this company from the inside out and make sure my mother walks away with every last gil you own.”

The claim made the president’s eyes bulge in his head, his crimson-splotched cheeks abruptly draining of color. “You—you don’t have any proof. You’re bluffing!” 

“Oh, excuse me,” Rufus chuckled. “Affairs.  _ Plural _ . Should I keep going? You really should learn to keep that big mouth of yours shut,  _ father _ .” 

They were at a standoff, though the president looked more like a child than his own son. The man melted into his chair and bowed his head into his hands with a moan. 

“I told her to get an abortion, you know that? I fucking tell them all.” His tone was flat and distant. It was the tone of a man who knew he had lost. It elicited no sympathy from Rufus. 

“She should have listened,” he sneered. “There’s no greater embarrassment than being your son.” Seeing his vision going black around the edges again, he bent over the desk, nearly nose-to-nose with his father. Quietly, he said, “Just because I bear your name doesn’t mean that you own me. Don’t forget that.” 

There were no words from President Shinra in response, and Rufus snatched the man’s cigar from the ashtray as he straightened, rolling it between his lips before turning away. 

He took the smell of pungent tobacco into his lungs, the acrid taste sweeter than victory against his tongue.

The door slammed on his way out. 

* * *

“Where is he?” Rufus demanded, staring down Miss Green-Eyes-and-Glasses. The woman was stubbornly refusing him entry into the research ward. It appeared she had learned from her mistakes. Either that or she’d been thoroughly reamed by her superior. 

“The specimen is no longer in this facility, and I am under explicit orders not to let you in. No exceptions.” 

Judging by the way the woman’s jaw was set there wasn’t much Rufus would be able to do to convince her otherwise, and with his keycard access revoked he was left with no other choice but to retreat. 

The gentle pressure of a hand on his shoulder made Rufus jerk, and fingers with perfectly manicured nails came into view, then a bare arm, and a full bosom, until he was facing the same sultry woman he’d seen in his father’s office.

“Ms. Scarlet,” the other woman said respectfully, though Rufus could sense some awkwardness in the greeting. Apparently her unannounced visit was equally surprising to both of them.

“Let me take young Rufus off your hands here,” Scarlet offered, winking in the boy’s direction. “Follow me.” 

Her high heels clicked, hips swaying as she walked. She didn’t have to check to see Rufus was following.

* * *

They went through several locked doors on the executive floor until they reached their destination. There were Shinra soldiers posted at each one, and they stood at attention, saluting whenever Scarlet walked past. 

“You’re not going to kill me, are you?” Rufus asked after passing through the fourth door that required a key card. 

Scarlet cackled. “Oh, you sweet thing. There are easier ways to kill you. No, I wanted to give you—” she rounded a corner, gesturing to a wall made entirely of glass, “—this.” 

Through it, in a small concrete cell that looked suspiciously like an interrogation room, was the failed experiment he had feared dead. The monster was curled in a ball and crowded in the corner as if the large space was too much for it, and Rufus came up to the glass, unable to tear his eyes away.

“My father approved this?” he wondered, skeptical. 

“Of course not,” came her smooth answer. 

He studied her reflection above his shoulder. It was smug, her hands placed on her curvy hips. If there was one thing Rufus had learned early on, it was that no one did anything nice for free. 

“What do you want?”

Scarlet spread her hands, shrugging. “Consider it a gesture of goodwill. After all, one day your old man will be dead and  _ you’ll  _ be president. It’d be nice to have an ace in my pocket.”

Rufus didn’t buy the innocent act.  _ She must be hoping that it will kill me. No heir to the company would mean the presidency would be up for grabs _ , he mused. Regardless of her motives though, he had gotten what he wanted and that was all that mattered. The rest he could figure out later. 

Seeing that Rufus wasn’t keen on continuing the conversation, Scarlet cleared her throat. “Well then, I’ll leave you two to get better acquainted. Feel free to come and go as you please.”

He waited until he could no longer hear the clacking of her shoes to approach the small chamber, opening its door a crack. The animal’s ears flicked up as Rufus entered, its head only lifting when he let the door shut. 

“Long time no see,” Rufus whispered. 

Red eyes, not as terrifying as they were in the dark, blinked back at him. Rufus squatted down, holding his hand out. 

“Let’s try this again. C' mere.” He clicked his tongue rapidly, and the dog unwound itself, stretching out to its full length. Rufus chuckled as its strange tentacle mimicked the movement, curling up at the end before relaxing. It stalled once it got to its feet as if it wasn’t sure whether to approach him. 

Rufus whistled low. “C’ mere,” he repeated. “Oh, that’s right. I forgot.” Being careful of his cast, Rufus peeled off his new jacket. It was the same as his old one, sans bloodstains, and he saw the beast’s tail wag slightly as soon as the Shinra logo was out of sight. “There. Better?”

Head low and ears back, the creature padded forward. Rufus held his breath in his lungs until his chest ached, watching it inch closer and closer until its snout finally bumped into his palm as if in apology. Noisily, Rufus exhaled, daring to scratch at the spot between the animal’s eyes. The fur there was short and rough, patchy from neglect, but Rufus was rewarded with two erect ears and another tail wag. 

“I only wish you could have gotten your revenge. I guess I really do ruin everything,” he said absently. His hand skimmed up the creature’s skull and over, behind one of its ears to rest along its neck. 

“People aren’t afraid of the dark. They’re afraid of what lives  _ inside  _ it. Midgar doesn’t know true fear because their artificial lights make it seem like there’s no night. No  _ stars _ .” He stroked the animal’s neck for a few seconds before it came to him. “Darkstar. That’s what your name is.” 

Darkstar nudged its head into Rufus’ cheek in apparent approval and raked a slobbery tongue across the boy’s face, making him fall back in surprise.

Rufus chortled. Then, what started out as just a low chuckle grew into a full-bellied laugh. That evolved into a cackle, guttural, and wild. Soon, he didn’t know whether he was laughing or whether he was howling, tears stinging the corner of his eyes until they overflowed, streaming down his face. 

His newly adopted companion sat back with a lopsided grin, teeth bared, tail whipping from side-to-side until Rufus had to catch his breath. He rolled onto his back, gasping, heart a drum beneath his ribs. Darkstar settled beside him, already at ease with their arrangement. 

“They’ll never treat you like that again. They’ll learn to fear you,” he told the beast. 

_ To fear me _ . 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I am @HardNoctLife on Twitter and hard-noct-life on Tumblr, but I have also started a FFVII specific twitter and Tumblr: @SLDRthirstclass and soldierthirstclass respectively. All my FFVII fics will be posted under my SoldierThirstClass pseud so people can find them more easily :3


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